The 17th Annual Art of Illustration show opens April 5 at Rivet Gallery. Poster by CCAD Illustration students Hollyanne Shell and Hannah Ross.

CCAD’s annual Art of Illustration show opens April 5 at Rivet Gallery in Columbus’ Short North Arts District. In its 17th year, the event has grown and moved to a more prominent location, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that it is entirely student run.

“What started as a small, somewhat informal student-organized show held on campus has grown into our major department exhibition and showcase,” said Stewart McKissick, professor and chair of Illustration.

Being completely student run, AOI is also a valuable learning opportunity. The student organizers experience the business side of producing an exhibition. A team of five Illustration majors coordinated submissions, recruited a jury of professional designers and artists, secured the gallery space, and did the marketing and event planning. Organizers for the 2014 show were seniors Joshua Parkinson and Samuel Veirs, and juniors Madeline Miller, Haleigh Richardson, and Hannah Ross.

This year’s event received 369 submissions from CCAD students, the most out of any year. Jurors selected 44 works by 27 students to be included in the exhibition.

“This mixture of creative directors, illustrators, and graphic designers [on the panel] provided a great variety of opinions and viewpoints,” said Veirs.

The show moved to Rivet Gallery in 2011 after being held on CCAD’s campus for 13 years—a change that has allowed the show to grow. For the student artists, having the show in the Short North during the area’s monthly Gallery Hop event means wider exposure to wider audience.

“The [Illustration] department and its talent are now showcased to a larger audience,” Veirs said. “[For students], having their work professionally displayed in an off-campus gallery space gives them…increased exposure.”

A catalog for last year’s 16th annual Art of Illustration is now available for purchase on Amazon, something McKissick said he hopes to make an annual part of the exhibition. A catalog for this year’s show will be available for purchase at the show opening on April 5 and later online. All proceeds from catalog sales benefit the CCAD Illustration department.

The exhibition will be on display through April 27 at Rivet Gallery, 1200 N. High St., Columbus, OH, 43201. A reception and awards ceremony will take place on April 5 at 7 p.m.

Update 4/10/14: Thomas Kirkeberg won first place for Mother of Dragons, Joshua Parkinson won second place for Elizabeth Bathory, and Emmett Shearer won third place for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.